


Anthony Edward Stark

by SomebodyWhoLovesMe



Series: The Bonds That Made Us [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Child Abuse, Group Homes, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Prison, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-10 20:25:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12307080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomebodyWhoLovesMe/pseuds/SomebodyWhoLovesMe
Summary: Tony doesn't believe in much, people, good, and genius are three things he definitely doesn't believe in. The first two he can blame his family for, but he takes credit for warping his idea of genius. He just wishes people would stop calling him one.





	Anthony Edward Stark

**Author's Note:**

> I've been trying to get in touch with user EQfan74, if you know them or can contact them, please send them my way.

Anthony Edward Stark doesn’t believe in genius. His mom is a certified genius, and she sits at home all day, occasionally organizes parties, and get so high on painkillers she can’t feel anything, not to mention ignores her husband brutally beating their son. 

His father's a genius, and when he comes home from his demanding job he drinks enough beer to fill a small tub, threatens if he sees his son, he’ll get an ass-whooping and if he’s still conscious late that night he seeks out his son and deliver said ass-whooping because he never talks to his father. 

And finally, he himself is a certified genius, but sometimes he can’t figure out simple things like, whether to greet his father or hide from him, or to try and talk to his emotionless mother, or ignore her like she does him, and he can’t figure out if the lapses in his brain are because he’s stupid or because of all the times his father threw him against the floor. 

But most of all, he didn’t realize it was a bad idea to mention this to a teacher assistant at his school. His father told him it was a bad idea after the fact, his mother didn’t care much about it at all, and his best friend Jarvis seemed to look relieved. Considering these are the only people Tony gages emotions from, you can see how he’d be confused. 

Jarvis isn’t a kid like Tony, he’s an adult and he’s paid to look after him so he’s not a friend. His therapist told him that. He got a therapist after they took his dad away. His therapist also told him they figured out why Tony has trouble deciphering emotions. It’s because his mom has none, and his dad beat him, except she didn’t say that, that’s just the jist of it.

She says Tony needs other friends, other kid friends, but Tony doesn’t like kids much, the therapist says this is funny as he is a kid, and Tony said he didn’t like himself much either. The therapist didn’t find this funny and said it was extremely concerning, and he explained all of this to her. He told her why he doesn’t believe in geniuses. He didn’t see that therapist again, he thinks it’s because he made her cry, and that's another reason he doesn’t like himself or believe in genius. 

His mother died not long after that. He doesn’t see much difference till they take him to a foster home, he doesn’t have any relatives and Jarvis can’t take him because he’s old.

The foster home teaches him a lot, like to introduce himself as Tony, not Anthony Stark like his dad made him, and to share, but not too much. Like share your chips and they might give you a piece of their cookies, but don’t share your science project idea or they’ll steal it and you get nothing, except it was ‘too advanced’ for them and you do it better and win and then they beat you up. You still get nothing. 

He also made a friend, James. He is a kid and Tony likes him, which his new therapist says is progress. 

James thinks Tony is a genius because he built him a toy gun that fires plastic bullets. Tony said he could’ve made a real gun that fired real bullets but he would’ve gotten in trouble, other kids in his experience thought this was odd, but Rhodey grinned and said, “Next time then.” Then he laughed, Tony laughed too.

Rhodey said his father was a pilot and died in the military, and his mom was also in the military and he would be too, Tony said his dad beat him and he wouldn’t do that too. Rhodey asked about his mom, and Tony said, she killed herself. Rhodey said he thought she died in a car accident, and Tony said, he hacked into the corner offices reports and it said she was under the influence of 17 different drugs at the time, and killed 2 other people in the crash, but they didn’t tell him, so he wouldn’t hate her. Rhodey asked if he hated her, and Tony said he didn’t have much of an opinion of her at all. She was pretty, and smart in college, then she met my dad and he was smarter so she got stupid. She didn’t do anything, Rhodey said this was sad, and Tony said it wasn’t. Rhodey said agree to disagree, and that was that.

Tony went through lots of therapy, grief therapy, abuse therapy, and he felt he was better at people now. He knew how to make them laugh, he knew how to read them, and he knew how to show off without them realizing he was showing off. He made so much progress they sent him to a new group home that wasn’t for troubled kids but kids ready to find families. But Tony felt the same. He still felt numb like his mom, but he didn’t take anything, so he guessed he just inherited numbness like he’d inherited genius. Except he didn’t believe in genius.


End file.
